Search

Cyber Monday & Beyond: Navigating the Online Holiday Shopping Season

Do you hear that sound? No, it’s not the clicking of Santa’s reindeers or jingle bells. It’s the clicking of keyboards across the nation as we head into the thick of the holiday shopping season. We started with Black Friday, then Small Business Saturday and today we move on to Cyber Monday. In the next few weeks, folks will be scrambling to check off those last minute gifts – many of you (like me!) relying heavily on the convenience of online shopping.

In preparation for this final stretch of the holiday season, we wanted to provide you with a quick checklist of tips to make sure your online holiday shopping experience is as enjoyable as the holidays themselves.

Online Holiday Shopping Tips:

Be Safe: Before you start checking off your online holiday shopping list make sure you have the most up to date Internet security software. This will help thwart online predators looking to hijack your credit card and other personal information. Also, shop only on trusted sites.

Shop Smart: Only do business with reputable online e-tailers. If you haven’t heard of them make sure you check to see that you are on a secure site and that they have their contact information including phone, address and e-mail, so you can get a hold of them offline.

Review Return & Exchange Policies: Before making an online purchase, familiarize yourself with the e-tailer’s return and exchange policies. Return and exchange policies can vary during the holiday season, so it’s wise to have that information in advance. Remember that some e-tailers let you return to their local brick-and-mortar stores. For those that require you ship back an item, just visit a local FedEx Office store for ground shipping prices that are 10% less than the competition.

Virtual Receipts: Even though you won’t have a tangible set of receipts as if you were shopping in a brick and mortar store, start a file folder of all of your purchase confirmations. This will help with tracking your holiday spending as well as keep your receipts in one organized place for returns or exchanges.

FedEx is also available to help safeguard all of your online purchases thanks to our complementary FedEx Hold at Location and Redirect to Hold services. With these options, customers can direct packages to be held at a nearby FedEx Office location of their choice until they are ready to pick them up. That way, your online purchases won’t be hanging out on the porch for prying eyes and curious kids to see before the big day!

And lastly, please keep two crucial December shipping deadlines in mind when making online purchases so your packages are delivered in time for the holiday.

Comments

This is so wonderful to know! I will be trying out the FedEx hold at location and redirect hold services this holiday season for my ebay customers! Thank you FedEx for making my shipping so much easier!